System of Innovation and Development Processes - Essay Example

As emphasized when discussing the IDEO case, this company seems to have a “system of innovation” in place, Describe how the development processes, structure, management and culture at IDEO allow innovation to flourish.” Slide 1 IDEO Overview and Culture Overview IDEO is a firm that specializes in product design and innovations; it also provides services in packaging design, product research, executive training and education on innovation. It focuses on product design and engineering equally. Have many clients, including Apple Computer, Samsung, Philips, NEC Corp etc. Culture The founder is David Kelley, Stanford mechanical engineering professor education background. Employed over 300 staff. Would normally have time pressure for required project, they would submit the cost and time estimate to potential clients. And the project manager would ensure their concepts could be achieved within budget and timeline. The employees would have frequent meeting with client to avoid any inconveniences of closing deals. Playroom atmosphere, held the “ show –and-tells” where designers and engineers could display their latest insights and products. –Encourage them to share ideas with each other. Set up large “Tech Box”, contain the curiosities and interesting gadgets to inspire innovator. Designers could rummage through the stuffs and play with the switch, bottom on them. This motivates their creativity of putting the old things in new use. Built the culture that “High performing employees were rewarded by being given more challenging projects to lead” , this way encourage them to contribute more in every project as they always have the chance of being group leader once they have high ability. Also reward the high performers with more shares in its client venture capital base. Organizational culture is an essential tool for innovation in any business setting. Consequently, it is true that in order to innovate there is a need to invest in building a strong culture that gives the right atmosphere to the employees and management to get involved. Mutual helping in workplace is a crucial aspect that foresees the success of businesses that depend on creativity in executing all the underlying projects. Encouraging-business culture enables workload sharing and collaborative help coming to the fore; lending expertise, experience and perspective that improve the quality and the execution techniques of different innovation ideas. For instance, IDEO has proved to have achieved a more impressive business culture. The IDEO’s culture has been able to build a help-friendly environment within its premises. The firm has employed more than 300 employees al with engineering educational backgrounds including its founder. The number is sufficient in the execution process of different processes within the stipulated budgets and timeframe. Additionally, as the firm deals with technical products they have introduced employee-customer interaction meeting to ensure their customers are satisfied. Such an aspect allows for acquisition of feedback from the product user, an aspect that is crucial for innovation and product improvement to improve the user experience. Additionally, IDEO has introduced the “show-and –tells” program that gives the employees a playroom opportunity to display their different designs, insights and products. These engineers and designers get the opportunity to share and exchange ideas for product development. Such an opportunity allows learning of new technologies that can be implemented in specific production processes or improves dwindling ideas from the low performers. The “tech box” introduced to the employees allow them try new ideas as they offer availability of gadgets that can be used to increase creativity within the product development process. Consequently, this aspect allows continuous thinking on how best these gadgets can be used to produce more quality products, as well as, how they can be used to replace outdated production tech with new one. It can be revealed that IDEO has put every little effort to allow innovation to its employees. Lastly, the built culture and the reward systems have played a significant role in allowing continued innovation. The reward system is unique as it can be revealed, the high-performing engineers are given the most complex projects to work on them and share the ideas to the rest of the employees. Such a reward system is based on improving experience for these employees for future continued innovation rather than monetary-based compensation. Therefore, it gives these employees an opportunity to work in advanced environment and having the opportunity to learn more as they share with their counterparts. Consequently, to ensure these innovative employees do not quit, they are awarded with more shares to retain in the firm. These are essential culture-built aspects that guarantee high creativity and continued innovation flourishing within IDEO organization. Slide 2 IDEO Development Process (the process of how they design a product) Have the core design philosophy of rapid prototyping, allowing both simple and sophisticated prototypes produce since employed highly skilled machinists. Also have the brainstorming as the center of their methodology. Going into the process, the first part of the process is the breakout into groups to dissect the current product and to come up with ideas for later sharing. In the second part of the process, known as the “Deep Dive”, the emphasis is on sharing ideas, similar to a brainstorming session. The issues are identified, and the team again breaks up into groups in order to design mockups that deal with particular issues. The different mock up ideas are then integrated into a final product. The take is that as IDEO puts it, the process expertise can be distilled into excellence in undertaking the process, hard work, teamwork, inputting long hours, where people respect each other’s ideas. Combining the prototyping and brainstorming, lead to quick and creative ideas. Wild ideas can therefore be produced within short time, focus on quantity of ideas first. Defer any judgments on ideas to avoid the interrupting the flow of ideas; the employees are always encouraged to build on the ideas of others. So that more perspectives can be discovered. Also encourage visualization of ideas, this help others to understand. Phase 0: Understand/Observe encourage employee to research and understand the new client and business by observation. E.g. may learn the history of remote control when design a new Phase 1: Visualize/Realize Visualized potential solutions through tangible prototype to the point where the production direction was chosen. Seek more feedback from customers.  Phase 2: Evaluating/Refining Visualizing new to the world concept and ultimate customer Filling the unspecified areas through rapid engineering requires constant communications between sub groups to ensure final outcome match together.  Phase 3:Implement (detailed engineering) evaluate the refine prototype, make it turn into opportunities. sill requires continuous team involvement of design members.  Phase 4: Implement (manufacturing liaison) Implement new concept for commercialization, ensure smooth product release. Brainstorming, prototyping and Deep Diving are important aspects to a creative team and innovative future of an organization. The employees adopt a group-based problem-solving that allows independence ideas being solicited for the main solution. These platforms allow spontaneous contribution of ideas regarding how best the existing products can be improved in terms of quality and the existing technological levels. The breaking up into smaller groups gives every employee and opportunity to contribute their ideas towards better innovative future. Consequently, low performing employees at group level may not suffer from inferiority complex as they will feel free to offer their ideas which will be presented at the Deep Dive stage (Thomke & Nimgade, 2007). Therefore, the development process allows pooling of independent and creative ideas to determine a masterpiece that can be used for more innovative quality products. Nevertheless, many ideas can be merged together for more creative single idea for future innovation while the high performing employees can work on ideas of others and develop more competent ideas as no ideas are rejected (Amabile, Fisher & Pillener, 2014). The development process is distinct and has clear phases that are flexible and allow team idea mapping that can be used to adjust creativity depending to the changes of customer experience. The initial phase entails observation and understanding. Such ideas are essential before acting on any idea as they allow market surveys, SWOT analysis, Force Filed analysis and any technological considerations that need to be achieved before the production process. Market surveys give the right feedback and an opportunity for different designs. Moreover, all the other marketing analysis offers an opportunity for marking the Do’s and the Don’ts. Lastly, the evaluation and the refining phase gives opportunities for all employees contribute their ideas and criticize others for idea mapping that allows higher creativity and enhance innovation for better quality products. Implementation has been characterized to be employee involving indicating that they work as one. The mutual helping captures leader’s personal involvement, as well as, creating a network of common success. Such aspects are critical and indicate a future innovation IDEO organization as the development process allows team-work that boosts creativity; an essential pillar of innovation (Thomke & Nimgade, 2007). . Slide 3 IDEO Structure and Management style Structure Keep organized employee into units /groups, no more than 40 people for each group. The founder think there would nowhere for the non-contribute employee to hide within small studio. The team would disband once the project finish, not permanent. Each employee was evaluated through regular peer review sessions; the peer pressure could motivate the employee to maximize their effort in 50-60 hours weeks. Group leaders keep changing for each project, and the leaders are always appointed based on the personal excitement about the project. Flat structure –lack of hierarchy, do not have formal title. Each project team has high diversity , as employee comes from variety of education backgrounds. Each have their specialized skills and knowledge, make it even contribute. Management They have primed and conformable working environment, no dress code is needed. Paid high rent for working location in Silicon Valley, so that encourages stimulating interactions between employees. Designers are always encouraged to talk and share their ideas with their colleague, Employees are encouraged to design their own working places, showing their personality and also allow them to have private working spaces. (Some can even hang up bicycle, pulleys and suspend airplane wing.) Fairly fired employee – “We do a better job of managing good employees than of weeding out lower performing employees.” Said by David Kelley Reduce their pressure when designing the product, as they have less fear of being fired if giving out bad ideas. Provide just enough constrain. Lastly, the IDEO management style and structure are influential tools for employee innovation. For instance, the structure allows grouping the employees into equal units of 40, whereby, they are disbanded after every project. It, therefore, indicates that every member has an equal opportunity for idea contribution and the group levels allow no member to joy ride other employee’s ideas (Amabile, Fisher & Pillener, 2014). Meanwhile, disbanding after every project is a key indication that there is a constant circulation of ideas and information across the employees that enhance the creativity and innovativeness of every employee. Peer reviewed assessments and evaluation allow for improvement of weak areas and a measure of performance. It helps in the development of new personal and corporate goals pertaining the employee and product performance (Thomke & Nimgade, 2007). Nevertheless, each project leadership is varied to ensure spreading of ideas from the high performing employees to the low performing ones. Therefore, employees handling a certain project enjoy different experience with other projects, thereby, developing the urge to know and learn more. Hierarchies do not exist in IDEO to allow equality, No-one’s-bosses, and discourage inferior complexity among the employees. Therefore, all employees will feel free to share ideas as no one can intimidate them at any level. There is even no shame in asking for a helping hand, hence guaranteeing the employees a psychological safety at all levels of production. The varied educational backgrounds enable a wide array of domains, as well as, pretty competence to solve all product development challenges (Amabile, Fisher & Pillener, 2014). Lastly, the management style allows no dress codes at the working places to prevent tension or the feeling of being deprived their freedom. The employees are paid high rents at specific places to allow more interaction and sharing of ideas between the designers and the helpers. It cannot be denied that such a freedom will increase employee creativity and innovativeness, if the firm can cater for the convergence of the employees even during off-days. Nevertheless, there is a freedom of designing of own workplace where each employee feels comfortable in working from and IDEO caters for that. Such attempts are made to manage low performing employees rather than firing them. It, therefore, indicates that creativity among the IDEO employees is a continuous process that marks all dimensions of innovation, even in the future (Amabile, Fisher & Pillener, 2014). References Amabile T., Fisher M. C., & Pillemer J., (2014). IDEO’s Culture of Helping. Tech Support for the Internet of Things. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2014/01/ideos-culture-of-helping/ar/1 Thomke S., & Nimgade A., (2007). IDEO Product Development. Harvard Business School, 9-600-143 Read More